Switching to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap. Maribeth H. Price

The SwitchToProData folder contains an ArcGIS Pro project named CraterLake and a PNG image named EdwardsCrop (figure 1.3a). Within the CraterLake project folder (figure 1.3b) is a file geodatabase, a TIN, a project file (.aprx), a layer file (.lyrx), a toolbox, a couple of JPEG (.jpg) images, and a multiband Landsat 5 scene.

Objective 1.2: Starting ArcGIS Pro, signing in, creating a project, and exploring the interface

      The preferred licensing model for ArcGIS Pro uses a named user account, which is an ArcGIS Online subscription organizational account that your administrator has configured with an ArcGIS Pro license.

      Instead of a map document used by ArcMap, ArcGIS Pro uses a more complex data structure called a project, which will be presented in detail in chapter 3.

      Figure 1.4. The first time ArcGIS Pro starts, you will be prompted to enter your ArcGIS Online user name and password.

Figure 1.5. The initial start screen of ArcGIS Pro.

      1.Start ArcGIS Pro (figure 1.4) and log in using your ArcGIS Online account. The initial start screen for ArcGIS Pro presents a variety of options (figure 1.5). On the left, you can open a project that is already saved by choosing one from the recent list or a pinned list, or by browsing for another one. The middle section is used to create a new project using one of the system templates: Map, Catalog, Global Scene, or Local Scene. The key difference between them is the initial type of display that will be created. The section on the right lets you access your own templates.

       2.In the middle section, under the heading Create a project from a system template, choose the Catalog template (figure 1.5).

      3.Enter LearnPro for the project name (figure 1.6). Click the Browse button to specify the new SwitchToProData folder as the location. Keep the option to create a new folder, and finish creating the project.

      Figure 1.6. Creating a new, blank project named LearnPro.

       4.Examine the interface.

Figure 1.7. The ArcGIS Pro GUI showing a new project.

      TIPIf your interface looks different from figure 1.7, close every window using the X in the upper-right corner, until only the tabs remain. Then open the View tab and click the Contents button, the Catalog Pane button, and the Catalog View button (preferably in that order). You can use the View tab at any time if you inadvertently close one of these main panes.

       5.Examine the top of the GUI containing the tabs used to access features and functions.

      6.Review the Contents pane (probably on the left side). This pane behaves much like the ArcMap Table of Contents.

      Unlike the Table of Contents in ArcMap, which shows only map layers, the Contents pane in ArcGIS Pro portrays other types of content as well, as it does here in showing the contents of the project.

      The middle section shows the Catalog view, which portrays the metadata for, or a preview of, items selected in the Contents pane. It is also used to edit metadata.

      7.Click several entries in the Contents pane. The Catalog view updates to show the items contained within the clicked item. Note that in the top half of the Contents pane, the Project folder links to resources saved to the computer. The bottom half, the Portal folder, accesses internet servers.

      8.Peruse the Catalog pane on the right side; it is analogous to the Catalog window in ArcMap. Although it is similar to the Catalog view in the center of the GUI, it has fewer functions (for example, not allowing you to preview data). The terms pane and view have specific meanings in ArcGIS Pro. Panes are dockable windows that contain commands and tools, whereas views contain objects that you are working with, such as a map, 3D scene, layout, or table. A window is a container that can display multiple panes or views. Three windows are visible in figure 1.7: one containing the Contents pane, one containing the Catalog view, and one containing the Catalog pane.

      9.Compare the bottom of the Catalog pane in figure 1.7 with your ArcGIS Pro GUI. The window in the figure contains three tabs representing three different panes docked in this window: Symbology, Geoprocessing, and Catalog. Your configuration may not match: the Symbology and Geoprocessing tabs are probably not visible in your project at the moment, because you may not have opened the panes yet. One characteristic of the ArcGIS Pro GUI is that it constantly changes depending on what the user is doing.

Objective 1.3: Accessing maps and data from ArcGIS Online

      ArcGIS Pro is designed to work closely with ArcGIS Online, so that you can access maps and data that have been saved by others. In the Contents pane, the upper section, Project, lists data stored on the local computer or a local network drive. The lower section, Portal, lists data available in ArcGIS Online or other GIS servers, including your own saved content, My Content; content available to your ArcGIS Online groups, the table in the graphics Groups; all content available in ArcGIS Online, All Portal; and the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World data available to ArcGIS Online subscribers.

      Much of the content accessed by ArcGIS Pro (figure 1.8) is like the content available to ArcMap, although the terminology has changed. A feature service and an image service are now called a feature layer and an imagery layer, respectively. Next, you can search for and add a couple different types of data.

Figure 1.8. Types of services available to ArcGIS Pro in ArcGIS Online. The terminology has changed somewhat for ArcGIS Pro, and the services are shown with different names than when adding them in ArcMap.

       1.In the Contents pane, click the All Portal entry and type a search term in the box in the Catalog view.

       2.Note the different types of items available. Click on one of the items to view its metadata.

       3.Click the Preview option at the bottom of the metadata section to examine a preview. Switch between the Details and Preview tabs as needed.

       4.Take a moment to examine the Insert tab that is currently visible.

      5.Right-click a web map in the Catalog view and click Add and Open. A web map is a shared map that accesses only GIS services. The map and its contents are displayed in the project. A new map view is added to the center window, and the Contents pane now shows the map layers, much like the ArcMap Table of Contents. In the Catalog pane, a new heading, Maps, is added.

       6.Expand the Maps entry in the Catalog pane and note that the map is now listed there.

      7.Examine the ribbon along the top. It switched automatically from the Insert tab to the Map tab when the map was added.

      8.Switch back to the Insert tab. You may notice that additional commands are now available. Tabs update depending